# Is Acting the Only Job Where... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519 "2010-09-21T11:34:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/21 "2010-09-21T21:38:39Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > What kind of stuck up job do you have where you’re not allowed to get any nookie outside of work? Who said anything about sex? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/22 "2010-09-21T21:54:41Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I suspect that for each actor with a problem who does work there are a hundred who discover their careers never go anywhere because of unreliability. I don’ t think Lindsay Lohan will ever work again n a principal role. Not because of unreliability, but because no film will be able to afford the insurance. Films are insured in case of disaster hat prevents its completion. That includes the death of the principal actors (or other disaster which prevents them from continuing.) Known drug addicts make insurers balk. After River Phoenix died, the insurance company sued his estate because he’d allegedly lied about drug use at the time the contracts were all signed. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/23 "2010-09-21T22:07:51Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] I don’ t think Lindsay Lohan will ever work again in a principal role. [/QUOTE] I agree. Starlets have a very short shelf life, and she blew it. It’s much easier for the male actors. A guy can completely fuck up his life in his 20’s, but if he can pull his shit together and work his ass off (see Robert Downey Jr.) he can get back in the game in his 30’s or 40’s. But if an actress doesn’t break big while she’s still a dewy cutie pie, it’s almost impossible for her to claw her way back later. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/24 "2010-09-21T22:21:55Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > but if he can pull his shit together and work his ass off (see Robert Downey Jr.) he can get back in the game in his 30’s or 40’s. And t be fair, some people to a really huge chance on Downey Jr. And the producers of _Ally McBeal_ were bitterly disappointed in the end. That he kept getting second chances and _finally_ got it right is pretty rare. The guy is lucky to be alive, really. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/25 "2010-09-21T22:30:38Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Producers really don’t like to hire actors with drug problems. Anytime an actor’s career trajectory takes a sudden downward turn, I suspect it has something to do w/ drug use. > > A friend of mine is close friends w/ \*\*Judge Reinhold \*\*and I guess he’s pretty open about how wild he used to be back in the 80’s. If you look at his IMDB page, he was in a lot of good stuff up until about 1988 (_Vice Versa_) and suddenly he was in nothing but crap. Reinhold also has a reputation of being a major horse’s ass to work with. That’s something most producers will put up with as long as he’s making them money, but a bomb or two or even hits that would have been hits without him (e.g. _Beverly Hills Cop 2_- it was a hit but they could easily have worked around him if he hadn’t signed on) and then it becomes an issue. Christian Bale could probably freebase coke and kick orphan kids and their puppies on the set of a BATMAN movie as long as they still rake in $400 million at the box office but the day one bombs he’s outta there. I don’t think substance abuse ever helps a career, it’s just that as long as the actor is capable of completing it _and_ making money for the studio it doesn’t _hurt_ the career. Once they become unbankable for either reason they’re kicked to the curb like anyone else would be. The shame about Lindsay Lohan is she was so beautiful just a few years ago and now she looks like she’s 45. (Nothing wrong with being or looking 45- I’m spitting distance from it and look it- except when you’re closer to half that.) I won’t say she’s one of the all time greats in terms of acting ability but she’s at least okay. Such a pity to see her throw away tens of millions of dollars in potential earnings, and a far more powerful indictment about the damage done by drugs than any PSA could be. [QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] That [Robert Downey Jr.] kept getting second chances and _finally_ got it right is pretty rare. The guy is lucky to be alive, really. [/QUOTE] Which I think he’s the first to acknowledge. I actually have a tad more sympathy for him than I do for most actors in his situation because, like Drew Barrymore, he was exposed to it so young. His father, R.D. Sr., was giving him pot when he was elementary school age and by high school he’d taken every drug available in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/26 "2010-09-22T03:19:04Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > There was a rumor that an actress made up a story about being on coke and then getting clean just so she could get some publicity since her career was way downhill. It was Lauren Tewes from the Love Boat. Guess she figured it was OK to say you were a former addict. I’m not so sure that was faked. Aaron Spelling fired her ass off the show because of her drug problems. > [@](#): > > Spelling also was a smart businessman who didn’t hesitate to replace a troublesome actor, releasing Boat’s Lauren Tewes when she became involved with drugs and exiling Herve Villechaize (Hey bozz!! De plane!!) from Island when the diminutive star asked for a pay hike on scale with Ricardo Montalban. [http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-06-25-spelling-appreciation\_x.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-06-25-spelling-appreciation_x.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/27 "2010-09-22T06:20:12Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > > [@Voyager](#): > > > > I suspect that for each actor with a problem who does work there are a hundred who discover their careers never go anywhere because of unreliability. > > I don’ t think Lindsay Lohan will ever work again n a principal role. Not because of unreliability, but because no film will be able to afford the insurance. If by some chance she breaks out in some minor role, so that the producers think the risk is worth it (and she is watched carefully) she’ll work again. But that’s a big if. As mentioned, Robert Downey Jr. did it, so it is possible. But minor actors who have never had the big roles are the ones I’m talking about here. They get fired once, and that is it. I know of a case where a kid just starting out, who was perfect for the part, got fired because he was a pain in the ass. Drugs had nothing to do with it - or I don’t think they did. I bet he never worked again. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/28 "2010-09-22T07:17:56Z")
Can anybody else see Lindsay making a comeback after all this as a proper serious actress and doing Oscar-bait films? Just think, the 2030 Academy Award for Best Actress in a Lead Role goes to… Lindsay Lohan. I’m serious, I think she’ll at least try. In like twenty years, I mean. It’s the classic tale of hot new star-oh whoops almost dead-years out of the spotlight-hurray they’re back let’s love them again. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/29 "2010-09-22T07:38:39Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Oh no, not by a LONG shot. I’ve seen salesman/brokers on or use more coke than Maytag uses Tide. I’ve seen it personally in the car industry, in the finance industry, in the securities industry as well as in the construction industry. I had a boss in a consulting project who would come in late and looking doozy every day, go into the bathroom and come back out thinking he was Don Vito Corleone but acting more like one of his thugs. A few times, coworkers told him to wipe the white dust off his upper lip. He was only the most obvious case. I’ve also had consulting projects where the boss wanted everybody to go drink with him/her and took “sorry, I don’t drink” as a personal offense. Some industries take drug use very seriously because it affects job performance, but note why it is: because it affects job performance. They don’t care what people do so long as it doesn’t, nor should they. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/30 "2010-09-22T08:45:59Z")
Well, celebrities in general, which includes people like rock stars. Drugs per se aren’t an advantage. Being in the news is an advantage. “No publicity is bad publicity”. Although being in the news for getting into the trouble can be a good thing, being in the news for being an ass (Mel Gibson) can hurt a career. Studios don’t care about it unless it affects performance. And if your antics are hurting your work ethic, it doesn’t matter what the cause is, it will hurt your career, whether its because of drugs or prima donnaness or bad work ethic. What allowances they are given depend on their box office draw. But even the biggest money maker isn’t going to pass muster if they can’t finish their work. And of course, certain drug users attract a certain type of audience for their movies (Kevin Smith). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/31 "2010-09-22T10:19:08Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > > [@Jinx](#): > > > > (Is Acting The Only Job Where) Drug issues actually promote your careeer? What the hell is this? When is Hollywood going to put the hammer down esp. on these “repeat offenders”, like Lydsay Lohan or Paris Hilton who both think it’s all a game? What other employer would allow this? Why doesn’t this ruin their careers like it would for you or me? > > **(addition of thread title into parentheses to complete the quote mine)** > > Oh no, not by a LONG shot. I’ve seen salesman/brokers on or use more coke than Maytag uses Tide. I’ve seen it personally in the car industry, in the finance industry, in the securities industry as well as in the construction industry. > Its completely pervasive; its just that cameras just aren’t in their face 24-7. > > Some use it to get by. Some use it in front of others to get others to try it, so they can 1) sell to them in future to offset their own $$ habits 2) Get a promotion raise. 3) Get into the pants of the person they want to sleep with them (yes, that still happens). > And the worst the rest of us ever see happening to them is them getting the nick-name ‘f-cking coke-head’ while we work to try to fix their screw ups. > > Who knows, maybe the Boss likes to be able to bring home a vial or two for the spouse for birthdays, anniversaries & holidays… :dubious: > > But “What other employer would allow this”? Sorry, but I call BS on that, if only from personal observation. > > Oh, and before you go “mandatory drug testing” this & “mandatory drug testing” that, I’ll be on board with that the minute you make every Senior Officer & Board Member of a traded company in America pee in a Dixie cup on a random monthly basis. Sales is a relationship business. And nothing helps solidify a relationship like having a shared vice (alchohol, drugs, prostitutes, whatever). ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/32 "2010-09-22T16:17:13Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > [QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] > That [Robert Downey Jr.] kept getting second chances and _finally_ got it right is pretty rare. The guy is lucky to be alive, really. Which I think he’s the first to acknowledge. [/QUOTE] Definitely. In interviews he seems genuinely gracious and appreciative of all the people who went out on a limb for him. > [@multimediac17](#): > > Can anybody else see Lindsay making a comeback after all this as a proper serious actress and doing Oscar-bait films? Just think, the 2030 Academy Award for Best Actress in a Lead Role goes to… Lindsay Lohan. > > I’m serious, I think she’ll at least try. In like twenty years, I mean. It’s the classic tale of hot new star-oh whoops almost dead-years out of the spotlight-hurray they’re back let’s love them again. Her attitude is the biggest impediment to that. Unlike Downey who appeared remorseful (real or pretend). She gets caught out and then does her best to dodge all accountability like an immature little brat. “The judge is so _mean!_” or “I didn’t drink! Somebody else _spilled_ booze on my ankle bracelet.” Plus, all the eyerolling ridiculous excuses her mom comes up with. She would have to totally reinvent herself, take responsibility and admit she was a fuck-up during the almost-dead years, to get any credibility as a serious adult with an actual work ethic. And again, someone would have to be willing to pony up and pay for the insurance premiums of a high-risk star. She needs to follow Drew Barrymore as a model and willingly to commit to a long-term rehab program, rather than skip the mandatory drug and alcohol awareness classes the “mean” judge sent her to. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/33 "2010-09-22T16:32:02Z")
Lindsay Lohan’s little fingernail stunt and making a [Funny-or-Die video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6g85lp2wJc)making fun of her substance problems (no laughing matter to millions of people) did away with any chance of clemency over a relapse before she ever even went to jail. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/34 "2010-09-22T16:44:11Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > She would have to totally reinvent herself, take responsibility and admit she was a fuck-up during the almost-dead years, to get any credibility as a serious adult with an actual work ethic. And again, someone would have to be willing to pony up and pay for the insurance premiums of a high-risk star. She needs to follow Drew Barrymore as a model and willingly to commit to a long-term rehab program, rather than skip the mandatory drug and alcohol awareness classes the “mean” judge sent her to. For what it’s worth, the other day she made a statement (via Twitter) that accepted yes, she has failed her last two drug tests, she takes responsibility, she’s working on it, substance abuse is a disease etc. So at least she’s taking a step in the right direction, but I agree with you that she needs a pretty big attitude overhaul. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/35 "2010-09-22T17:22:08Z")
This article from [Hollywoodlife.com](http://www.hollywoodlife.com/2010/09/21/lindsay-lohan-insider-drugs-alcohol/) about Lindsay Lohan may be completely made up (or not) but it probably pretty accurately reflects the mindset. > [@](#): > > The source says, “She clearly knows that the offers aren’t rolling in like they used to. She used to get like 20 scripts a week, but there’s always a couple of deals coming in. She just thinks they’ll keep coming in." Until an actor crosses the Dana Plato line of complete unemployability, it’s easy to rationalize. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/36 "2010-09-22T18:18:11Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > This article from [Hollywoodlife.com](http://www.hollywoodlife.com/2010/09/21/lindsay-lohan-insider-drugs-alcohol/) about Lindsay Lohan may be completely made up (or not) but it probably pretty accurately reflects the mindset. > > > [@](#): > > > > The source says, “She clearly knows that the offers aren’t rolling in like they used to. She used to get like 20 scripts a week, but there’s always a couple of deals coming in. She just thinks they’ll keep coming in." Yeah, but Hooker #3 doesn’t pay enough to cover the cost of her lifestyle. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/37 "2010-09-22T21:44:02Z")
This should go back to IMHO, it’s a rhetorical question. Pass the coke. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/38 "2010-09-22T23:15:28Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > I’m serious, I think she’ll at least try. In like twenty years, I mean. It’s the classic tale of hot new star-oh whoops almost dead-years out of the spotlight-hurray they’re back let’s love them again. It’s hard enough for a forty plus woman to make it as an actress if she has a sterling reputation and a solid body of work behind her. No way anyone’s going to give her work again if she takes a couple of decades off to ride the rehab-relapse carousel. And it’s not like she’s done anything that’s got real staying power. Take a look at her [filmography.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0517820/) Is there anything on that list that anyone is going to remember twenty years from now? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/39 "2010-09-22T23:42:07Z")
Six years ago, “Mean Girls” seemed to be “Titanic”, “Gone With the Wind”, and “Citizen Kane” all rolled up into one for the 'tweeners. I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve read “…but she was sooo good in Meeeeannn Girrrlllss…”, like some kind of talented, shining icon. I would hope the baton has been passed on to newer brilliant talents like…I dunno who. Out of the loop here. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519/40 "2010-09-23T17:40:39Z")
For my generation (I’m 20) Mean Girls is an absolute classic, most people I know could recite most of it off by heart. Lines from it are quoted in every situation. There is no doubt in my mind that in 20 years people will remember it. Lindsay herself wasn’t the “talented, shining icon”, the film was. Even if she was great in it, there were many other factors, mainly Tina Fey’s writing. But because she played the main character, she’ll always be associated heavily with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-acting-the-only-job-where/554519.md?page=3)